174: Chapter 174 The Wang Family's Plan B

On the hillside, the Wuji Army scouts finally put down their binoculars.

They looked at each other, their expressions complex.

Some swallowed, some scratched their heads, some pulled out a betting slip from their pockets, glanced at it, then crumpled it up and threw it away.

"Seventh Squad... do you still remember the conditions for recruiting before?" a scout asked.

"One hundred basic military merits per month, contract beast eggs at least Upper Bronze Rank, one day off per week, three quotas for compensation for sacrificing in the line of duty, guaranteed training to Upper Bronze Rank within three years, absolutely no deductions, absolutely no arrears," the person next to him recited, word for word, as if reading from a book.

"Are these conditions... still valid now?"

No one answered.

But everyone's eyes lit up.

They looked at the young man covered in blood, with a faint blue light still swirling around him, and calculated in their hearts.

Following him, one hundred basic military merits per month, five times what they currently earned.

Following him, the minimum contract beast egg was Upper Bronze Rank, several grades higher than their current Pet Beasts.

Following him, there were holidays, compensation, guarantees, no deductions, and no arrears.

Following him, he could heal their injuries, help them improve their Pet Beasts, lead them to victory, and stand in front of them when the Earth Lizard King charged.

Following the Seventh Squad, fighting with all their might.

They had long noticed that the Pet Beasts of the new Beast Tamers in the Seventh Squad, whether in terms of attack, physique, or intelligence, were all extraordinary.

Most of their potential was above Silver Rank. Even if there were two with black iron rank potential, this ratio was still terrifying.

"I want to join the Seventh Squad," a scout said.

"Are you crazy? You're currently with the Third Squad, transferring requires approval."

"Then get approval. At most, I'll run a few more errands."

"Aren't you afraid of what happens after you join?"

"Afraid of what? Didn't you see? He, a Bronze Rank, single-handedly killed a Silver Rank Earth Lizard King. What is there to be afraid of when following such a person?"

No one refuted him.

Because what he said was true.

On the other side, the several ruin scouts from Fengling City leaned against their off-road vehicle, smoking and watching the commotion down the hillside.

Their expressions were much calmer than those of the Wuji Army scouts, even showing a hint of nonchalance, as if they were used to it.

"Is that him?" a scout wearing sunglasses exhaled a puff of smoke, his tone carrying an indescribable emotion. "The one who killed the Raven King in Fengling City? I didn't expect him to join the Wuji Army! If it's him, then this scene makes sense."

The person next to him chimed in: "It seems this guy really has ability. Before, I thought the Raven King was severely injured, and he just picked up a cheap kill. But this Earth Lizard King is Silver Rank, and he killed it himself, without using a Pet Beast, directly transcending ranks. That's not luck, that's strength."

"So, do you think his appearance here is related to the God-level Ruins?"

"I think, regardless of whether it's related or not, we should pay more attention to him. I'll report this to the family immediately."

The scout in sunglasses extinguished his cigarette on the car door and said nothing more.

He looked at the young figure down the hillside, recalling the day of the commendation ceremony in Fengling City, when he stood in the crowd, watching this young man receive a medal from the City Lord. At that time, he thought this was just a greenhorn who got lucky and would soon be forgotten.

Now, he no longer thought so.

...

On the other side.

The Wang family's scout, the Leather Jacket Man, squatted on the other side of the hillside, in a different direction from the others.

He stared at Qin Ce from the beginning to the end of the battle, not missing a single detail.

He held a notebook, silently recording, preparing to report everything without omission when he returned.

Originally, they had planned to change the intermediate task, which was considered a two-star task, to a one-star low-level task.

This would cause considerable damage to Qin Ce's new team, preferably preventing them from completing the task, and further escalating the conflict between him and Commander Chu Mingjue.

But who would have thought that a commoner would possess such talent for leading troops?

In a single mission, he managed to unite hearts. This leadership ability was unheard of!

Therefore, they could only implement Plan B.

This child must not be allowed to live!

The Leather Jacket Man gritted his teeth, put down his binoculars, and rubbed his aching eyes.

He pulled out a bottle from his embrace.

The bottle was small, palm-sized, made of glass, and contained grayish-white powder, like flour, but finer and lighter than flour.

The mouth of the bottle was sealed with wax and wrapped in a layer of oil paper.

This was given to him by the Wang family before he set off, with the instruction: "Do not use it unless absolutely necessary."

He had been hesitating. But now he felt that this was the

He stood up and confirmed the wind direction.

North wind, blowing from northwest to southeast. His squatting position was upwind.

He crushed the wax seal at the bottle's mouth, tore off the oil paper, raised the bottle above his head, and vigorously scattered its contents into the air.

Grayish-white powder spewed from the bottle's mouth, carried by the north wind, like a faint mist, drifting down the hillside.

The powder was very light, so light it was almost invisible, spreading silently like a thin veil under the dim sky.

The Leather Jacket Man squatted down, put the empty bottle back into his embrace, picked up his binoculars, and continued to observe.

His heart was pounding, but his expression was calm.

The powder had been scattered; the rest was up to fate.

The grayish-white powder drifted down the hillside, over the sandy ground, over the corpses of the Earth Lizards, and over the members of the Seventh Squad.

The powder was so light that no one noticed its presence.

Someone sneezed, thinking it was dust blown by the north wind, rubbed their nose, and continued working.

Someone felt a slight itch in their throat, coughed twice, took a gulp of water, and was fine.

The powder continued to drift.

It drifted towards the center of the battlefield, towards the pile of Earth Lizard corpses pushed aside by energy, and towards Qin Ce, who was covered in blood and directing his team to clean up the battlefield.

The powder landed on the Earth Lizard's blood, turning from grayish-white to transparent, melting silently like snow falling into water.

Then, a faint smell rose from the blood.

It wasn't foul, nor fragrant; it was an indescribable, sour, astringent scent, like rust mixed with mold.

It was very faint, so faint that if one didn't deliberately try to smell it, it would be unnoticeable.

But it diffused quickly, spreading across the battlefield with the north wind.

Currently, the battlefield of the Red-Scaled Earth Lizards was covered in Earth Lizard blood, and Qin Ce had the most blood on him—when the Earth Lizard King exploded, he was the closest and was drenched from head to toe.

The concentration of that smell in the air, and its concentration on him, far exceeded anyone else present.

At this time, the energy in Qin Ce's body was still the wind element of Qingluan, so he didn't feel anything else.

However, Tianlu, who was playing nearby, suddenly let out a loud sneeze. It shook its head, its nose felt a bit itchy, and it sneezed again. A cloud of grayish-white powder happened to drift in front of it and was dispersed by its two sneezes, like a gust of wind scattering clouds. Tianlu sniffed, and the itch was gone.

Then, it suddenly felt an urgent need to urinate.

It wasn't just a normal urge, but a very, very urgent one.

It looked up at Qin Ce, who was talking to Jiang Mo and had no time for it.

Tianlu hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran out of the battlefield.

It ran very fast, its small paws leaving a string of tiny footprints on the sandy ground.

It ran past the Earth Lizard corpses, past the busy team members, past one dirt mound after another, until it reached a large rock far from the battlefield.

Only then did it feel comfortable enough to prepare to relieve itself.

...